Before they left for their current European tour, The Low Anthem visited NPR member station WFUV in New York to discuss their latest release, Smart Flesh, and perform a number of songs off the album. You can hear the performances on WFUV's Words and Music from Studio A and their conversation with host Claudia Marshall on npr.org. The Low Anthem's music "is at times a rowdy stomp, at others a breathless, hymn-like hush," says Marshall, "always compelling, inventive and fresh. Welcome to folk music 3.0."

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang are heading Down Under this week to celebrate this Friday's Australian release of their new album, Sing it Loud, due out in North America on April 12. Fans in Australia can catch lang and the band on TV starting release day and throughout April. They'll be able to watch them live in concert later this year on k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang's just-announced tour of Australia this November. Watch an excerpt of their recent performance at the John Varvatos 8th Annual Stuart House Benefit here.

SXSW is in full swing today in Austin, with countless showcases, performances, parties, events, and radio broadcast on tap. Emmylou Harris and Jessica Lea Mayfield are among today's SXSW performers who can be heard around the world when their sets stream live online: Harris via NY public radio station WFUV, Mayfield on the Waterloo Records site. "Our Hearts Are Wrong," off Mayfield's album Tell Me, has been named NPR Song of the Day.

Wanda Jackson's new album, The Party Ain't Over, "secures Jackson's place as a 21st-century entertainer," says a new review from NPR's All Things Considered. Producer Jack White "cleverly matches Jackson's infamous vocal growl with huge arrangements, creating an instant party on the first track," says NPR. "White coaxes a performance from Jackson that fits her as well today as it did in 1958." Tune in to CMT's Insider this weekend for a look at the collaboration. Jackson performs at the Robson PAC in Claremore, Oklahoma, tonight to benefit the Akdar Shrine Center.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops' and Luminescent Orchestrii's performance of "Knockin'," off their self-titled, four-song EP, has been named Song of the Day by NPR. "Knockin'' is the perfect song to capture the two groups' individual and combined gifts," says NPR. It "offers a new way to hear the Carolina Chocolate Drops. The group has long bridged the sounds of American roots music for modern audiences, but between 'Knockin'' and 'Hit 'Em Up Style,' it's exciting to hear [Rhiannon] Giddens sing with so much verve and conviction."

The soundtrack for Norwegian Wood, the new film based on Haruki Murakami’s bestselling novel, featuring a score by Jonny Greenwood, is out next week. Greenwood spoke with BBC 6 Music about finding inspiration for the score in Murakami's novel, his acclaimed score for There Will Be Blood, and future plans for Radiohead. MusicOMH says Greenwood's new score "shows how the string orchestra remains a descriptive force in the right hands." The Evening Standard says it "creates a powerful atmosphere" for the film.

Natalie Merchant performs a benefit concert for the Bard College Conservatory of Music Saturday night. She will be joined by the conservatory orchestra in performing songs from her latest album, Leave Your Sleep, and throughout her career. Merchant will preview the event with an intimate, live "Parlour Session," broadcast on WKZE today at noon. She recently spoke about the Bard event with WAMC, which calls Leave Your Sleep "just plain beautiful."

Jessica Lea Mayfield is in the UK this week, bringing the music of her new album, Tell Me, to the British airwaves—on BBC 6 Music's Marc Riley and Nemone earlier this week, XFM's X-Posure tonight, and BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends on Saturday—and a live in-store performance today in London. Mayfield then returns to the States to launch her extensive US tour, which includes several events at SXSW and has now been extended into May with some 18 new dates added.

Wanda Jackson will be the guest on NPR's World Cafe today, performing songs from her new album, The Party Ain't Over, and talking with host David Dye about recording the album with producer Jack White. Jackson resumes her US tour later this month and will be featured in a new exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame titled Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power, opening in May.

The Low Anthem kicks their tour at the Sixth and I Synagogue in Washington, DC, tonight. NPR's All Songs Considered will be broadcasting the concert live online at npr.org. The Associated Press calls their new album, Smart Flesh, "stunningly memorable ... Decidedly eclectic, the Low Anthem use simple chords, haunting sounds and unusual instrumentation to create something sincere and beautiful." On this week's New York Times Popcast, Times writer David Carr says: "You don't hear singing like that every other day. It's very, very impressive."

Carter Burwell and his score to the Coen brothers film True Grit are featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Burwell spoke with guest host Linda Wertheimer about the score and why it was deemed ineligible for an Academy Award, namely its roots in earlier hymns, a source of inspiration Burwell says he found in the 1968 Charles Portis novel on which the film is based. Wertheimer says: "We liked it."

The Low Anthem is the subject of the cover story in the Providence Phoenix, which looks at their new album, Smart Flesh, and, the heady year that preceded it. "The subject matter on the new disc revolves around life’s inevitable end," says the Phoenix, "delivered with such poise and poignancy that it’s easily the band’s most impressive album." KCRW calls it "their best album yet ... With ghostly echoes of such luminous predecessors as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and the country side of the Rolling Stones, The Low Anthem has raised the bar for practitioners of the high-lonesome side of indie folk sounds in the new decade."